


By the Dresser

by Valverbek



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Angst, F/F, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:00:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29338695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valverbek/pseuds/Valverbek
Summary: After a late night in the lab, Bonnie returns to her room to find Marceline ransacking her dresser. A conversation ensues. Set between the end of Elements and Marcy and Hunson.
Relationships: Princess Bubblegum/Marceline
Comments: 7
Kudos: 80





	By the Dresser

**Author's Note:**

> A.K.A How Marceline got Bonnie's sweater. Inspired by dozens of posts and art pieces with them wearing each other's shirts. Enjoy!

Bonnie whipped off her safety goggles and slapped them on her desk. She wiped her forehead. Seventeen straight hours of work—and she still couldn’t get the banana formula to improve. The idea had been bugging her for years. She loved the banana guards dearly, but they were just too dang dumb. She needed an upgraded version to better protect the kingdom. The Gumball Guardians did their best. They worked just fine, but Bonnie needed something smaller so everything always didn’t get smashed. These new banana guards could fly, function like drones if necessary, and would have some cool new shades because why not? At least, they  _ would _ have all those things if Bonnie could get the formula right.

Oh well. If Bonnie had an abundance of anything, it was time. She shrugged off her lab coat and got ready to turn in for the night. She dragged herself to her bedroom after dismissing Peppermint Butler. However, when she got there, she heard something. Shuffling, the soft scrape of metal on wood as drawers opened, and indiscernible muttering—oh great. She had an unexpected guest it seemed. Bonnie’s hand twitched near the pistol she kept hooked on her belt at all times. They were ransacking her dresser, which meant they would have their back turned. Good. Bonnie crept inside with her pistol at the ready. She rose to her full height, gripping the gun with both hands. Then she charged inside to surprise the intruder.

“Freeze hoodlum!” roared Bonnie.

“Gaahhh!”

The intruder whirled around in a mass of long dark hair, revealing a familiar and  _ very _ guilty face. Bonnie stepped back in bewilderment. She lowered her gun.

“ _ Marceline _ ? What in Glob’s name are you doing?”

“Oh—heyyyy Bonnie! I was just—uhhh…”

Marceline’s voice trailed off as she rubbed the bite marks on her neck. At first, Bonnie figured she caught the vampire in the middle of a prank. Marceline pulled those all the time centuries ago, sparking a huge prank war between the two of them. They made it into an ongoing joke, sneaking into each other’s houses and causing mayhem. Whoever pulled the best prank won. Except, Marceline didn’t look bummed about getting caught. She seemed  _ embarrassed _ . Her face flushed a deep shade of red and she made a point of avoiding eye-contact with Bonnie. Unable to take the awkward silence anymore, Bonnie glanced at the mess of clothes Marceline left on the floor.

“You know you’re helping me refold those, right?”

“Sorry. It’s just—ah. I’m—”

Bonnie waited, watching in fascination as Marceline fumbled with her words. It wasn’t often she got like this. Marceline always had a snarky quip or remark at the ready which would make Bonnie’s eyes roll up to the ceiling every time without fail. Now Marceline was a bundle of nerves, floating back and forth and gnawing on her lower lip with one fang. Eventually, she sighed and let herself descend. She landed on her knees on the floor by the dresser. Bonnie walked over. She knelt down next to Marceline who drummed her fingers on one of the open drawers.

“This is gonna sound  _ really _ dumb—but I was kind of looking for something specific,” said Marceline.

Bonnie smiled and quirked up an eyebrow.

“So you sneak into my room and start raiding my wardrobe?”

Marceline looked away, cheeks flushing again. Bonnie hummed and tried to think of another way to approach this. She could mix chemicals, engineer massive machines, and even create  _ lifeforms _ —but somehow her brain, big as it was, fumbled with anything involving social interaction or emotions or  _ anything _ that wasn’t science really. It never bothered Bonnie until she started hurting people. Finn, Flame Princess, her own people even and Marceline.  _ Especially _ Marceline. Donking up conversations was one of the many ways Bonnie had lost her in the first place. She needed to stop doing that. Bonnie turned, resting her hands on the open drawer too.

“Hey—if you want to borrow something you can always ask me. You know I won’t mind,” she said.

“Yeah. I know, but stealing it’s way more fun!”

Marceline spun back towards Bonnie, grinning. It didn’t last. She patted the drawer, blowing air between her cheeks.

“Okay fine—it’s  _ embarrassing _ .”

Bonnie blinked.

“The—thing you want?”

“Not so much the thing itself, but the reason I want it.”

“Marcy, what  _ is  _ it? Gonna need more context here.”

Marceline growled and threw up her hands.

“Ugh—it’s the  _ sweater _ , okay? The white one with the stripes on it!”

“Oh!”

Bonnie shut the drawer and leapt to her feet. She raced up to her closet, nudging aside her abundance of jackets and pull-overs, until she found it. She slid it off the hanger and held it up for Marceline to see.

“This one?”

“Yeah.”

Bonnie took a few steps closer to Marceline, holding the sweater out to her. Marceline took it by the sleeve and let the rest of the sweater slip into her arms. She stared down at it hanging over her forearms, shuffling her feet. The sight made Bonnie’s heart race out of nowhere. Something about Marceline acting all shy and sheepish had her tingling with warmth and nostalgia. It made her think of the first time Marceline asked her on a date. She tried to seem smooth, sneaking it into a conversation, but she froze up as soon as dinner was mentioned. She ended up going on a tangent: “Oh but I only drink the color red. We could still get dinner though. Ah, but it has to be after the sun goes down. Shoot. A late dinner then?” Marceline tripped over her words for a while and Bonnie suspected she would’ve gone on for much longer. Fortunately for her, Bonnie was so charmed, she interrupted Marceline’s ramble to accept her invitation. 

“What’s so special about this one?” said Bonnie.

Marceline glanced between the sweater and the window. Bonnie half-expected her to fly through it and it looked like she almost did. But then Marceline spoke, still not looking straight at Bonnie.

“You don’t remember?”

Bonnie furrowed her eyebrows, racking her brains. She had  _ so _ many clothes it got hard to keep track of what she wore when. Heck, if she  _ didn’t _ end up catching Marceline, the vampire queen could’ve made off with the sweater and Bonnie would’ve been none the wiser. But it did look awfully familiar. She must’ve been out for a while and obviously with Marceline. The colors  _ did _ pair well with that grey crop top Marceline wore a lot. Why did she think of—oh. Oh!

“I wore this while we were hunting vampires!” said Bonnie.

Marceline finally looked at her and smiled.

“Yeah! Except it’s—more than that. It’s where I woke up after getting poisoned.  _ Really _ thought I was gonna bite the big one for a minute there, you know? After a thousand years, almost dying was pretty scary. But then I made it and I was laying on this sweater…on  _ you _ . And I wasn’t scared anymore.”

Bonnie felt her face go a dark shade of pink. Now it was her turn to look down at the floor. Of course she’d never forget cradling a dying Marceline in her arms. Bonnie had many scares in her lifetime: Shoko, the comet, Finn ready to sacrifice himself, and her own near-death experience with the Lich. But almost losing Marcy petrified her in a way she couldn’t describe. Bonnie couldn’t take it. The image drove her crazy so she turned the tide back on Marceline, wringing her hands together something fierce.

“Wh-why now? The vampires were months ago.”

Several different emotions went across Marceline’s face: irritation, panic, mortification. 

“Ah—Bonnie—who cares? It wasn’t like—”

It hit Bonnie suddenly. This was the first time they’ve really spoken since...LSP reset Ooo. She had dozens of images that still haunted her: Marceline screaming about saving Bonnie while marshmallows overtook her skin, gum shooting out of Bonnie and engulfing her. The rest of it was a blur. Bonnie remembered receding into her own mind. It almost felt like the mother gum, but not quite. Everyone felt like directionless husks in need of domination. She didn’t recognize anyone, not even her own friends. Returning back to normal had hit her with the force of an asteroid. 

“It was the elemental stuff, wasn’t it?”

Bonnie didn’t mean to blurt it out, but it was too late. Marceline went silent again. She had flown Bonnie home after it all. They didn’t talk for the entire ride. Marceline had set Bonnie down inside the lab and wouldn’t look at her, visibly shaken. Bonnie didn’t feel much better. She was still disoriented,  _ devastated _ and overwhelmed with hundreds of other emotions she couldn’t discern. The only clear feeling she had was intense guilt. But Bonnie articulated none of this to Marceline. She said nothing. Marceline said nothing. Bonnie spun around to fiddle with one of her tools while she tried to think of something  _ to _ say. Right when she mustered up the courage, she turned to find Marceline had vanished without a word. Bonnie rubbed her arm. 

“I don’t think I ever said sorry—for turning you into a marshmallow,” Bonnie said.

With a sigh, she added, “Actually I totally understand why you didn’t ask. I don’t think I’d wanna be near me either after all that.”

Bonnie hated the whole elemental debacle. She had just finished regaining the trust of her citizens after they voted her out of the Candy Kingdom. All it took was fear and a few clever words from the King of Ooo and she was out. Fixing things required a lot of apologizing, patience, and being less  _ mean _ , and she thought she was doing alright. Then she turned into the Candy Elemental. It amplified the worst parts of her. She almost devoured all of Ooo. She might have succeeded if LSP of all people hadn’t stopped her. When the curse wore off, all of Bonnie’s efforts to fix things didn’t matter. She changed back and everyone was afraid again. She didn’t blame Marceline for being afraid too.

“Bonnie, no! That’s not it.”

Marceline’s fierce, half-stressed voice ripped Bonnie from her thoughts. Marceline paused, flaring her nostrils. She stared down at the sweater.

“I just didn’t think I deserved to ask for this. You were there for me with the vampires and you saved me a bunch.”

Marceline tensed, crumpling up the shoulders of the sweater in her hands.

“But I couldn’t save  _ you _ .”

Just like that, all of Bonnie’s doubts disappeared. She put both her hands over Marceline’sand clasped them together. It smushed the sweater, but Bonnie didn’t care. She stared directly into Marceline’s eyes.

“Marcy…you did everything you could.”

A long pause. Marceline didn’t move and neither did Bonnie. Then tears rolled down Marceline’s cheeks. She flinched, letting go of Bonnie’s hands and mopped up her face with her sleeve. 

“Ah— _ man _ . Come on—”

Bonnie gave her a soft smile, reaching out to wipe a single tear away. She took the sweater and held it open.

“How about you try this on?” she said.

Marceline managed a smile of her own and nodded. Bonnie slipped the sweater over her head. After struggling with the sleeves for a second, Marceline pulled the rest of it over her torso. Bonnie’s heart skipped. She never realized it before, but she must’ve had a slightly bigger build than Marcy. The collar of the sweater sagged off Marceline’s neck, the hem hung below her waist, and the sleeves engulfed a good portion of her palms. And it was the most  _ adorable _ thing Bonnie had ever seen. She hoped she didn’t start blushing again as she smoothened the fabric. Marceline spread her hands.

“How do I look?”

“Really  _ donking _ cute,” said Bonnie.

She let out a short gasp and clasped a closed fist over her mouth. Oh jeez. The words rolled off her tongue so naturally, she didn’t have time to stop them. Marceline’s mouth dropped. She blushed so hard she looked alive again, laughing softly. 

“Hahaha—oh—wow--uh....” Marceline babbled.

Judging from the heat radiating off Bonnie’s own face, she was probably just as red as Marceline. She decided to say something else before one or both of them died of embarrassment.

“You should keep it.”

Marceline’s eyes lit up.

“For real?”

Bonnie thought of the countless nights she spent in her rock shirt, the comfort it brought her. She slipped it on after a stressful day. She wore it under a dozen different jackets. She cried into it the day Shoko died. She started off every morning drinking in its scent. And she missed it every day since she gave it to Maja. Maybe this sweater would bring Marceline those same comforts. She hoped it would.

“For real. It’s yours,” said Bonnie.

Marceline’s face went soft. She stepped towards Bonnie, but hesitated. Bonnie stepped closer too, even going as far as taking Marceline’s shoulders. Marceline watched her and her lips parted a little. Bonnie stared at them. She could see Marceline’s forked tongue flicking between her fangs and her heart raced. She debated. She got dizzy and lightheaded. Was this the right time? What if she did it? What would happen? Would it start a relationship anew or ruin their still-tentative friendship? Bonnie couldn’t lose Marceline for centuries again, not over something like this. The thought scared her too much. She chickened out at the last second and went in for a hug instead.

Marceline slipped her arms around Bonnie, clasping her tightly. She seemed simultaneously relieved and disappointed. But she didn’t pull away. Bonnie leaned into her, feeling the heat on Marceline’s cheeks. She took a second to marvel at how Marceline’s blood flow somehow restarted as a reaction to strong emotions. It didn’t seem logical. Marceline’s heart didn’t beat. Unless it only did on occasion or under special circumstances. Maybe Bonnie could look into it if Marcy let her. Vampire science could be cool. Or maybe thinking about Marceline’s undead blood flow was  _ much _ easier than comprehending that this was their first hug in over three hundred years.

Bonnie had to restrain herself from saying it aloud, but she missed it. She missed it  _ so _ much. She nuzzled Marceline’s shoulder, hoping she wasn’t clinging too hard. Her long dark hair tickled Bonnie’s forehead. Even though Marceline didn’t need air, Bonnie felt her taking a few big breaths. They could’ve stayed like that for hours if they let themselves. Eventually, though, they pulled away from each other, albeit reluctantly. They took a second to compose themselves. Bonnie folded her hands in front of her. Marceline played with her hair and looked down at the floor. She swallowed.

“So—I should probably dip out. Got a concert to prepare for and everything…”

Marceline floated up towards the window. After opening it, she turned back to Bonnie and grinned at her.

“Thanks for the sweater, Bon. Now I guess we  _ both _ have a favorite shirt!”

Bonnie tried to keep the sadness out of her smile.

“Yeah…I guess we do.”


End file.
